Apparatus for harvesting frozen confectionery products



Sept. 5, 1939. N. M. THOMAS APPARATUS FOR HARVESTING FROZEN CONFECTIONERY PRODUCTS 0 rigin al Filed April 17, 1935 INVENTOR Norman M Thomas AT NEY Patented Sept. 5, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR HARVESTING FROZEN CONFECTIONERY PRODUCTS Norman M. Thomas, Pelham, N. Y., assignor to Joe Lowe Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware 3 Claims. ((1294-87) The present invention relates to apparatus for harvesting a plurality of multi-tlavored frozen confections wherein the individual confections are provided with a handle member. The invention has particular relation to new and improved apparatus for making a plurality of such individual composite servings simultaneously in a most efiicient, economical and sanitary manner.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial Number 16,810, filed April 17, 1935, now Patent No. 2,123,215.

- Heretofore, confectionery products have been made in the form of individual servings consisting of various combinations of flavors and/or substances, but the disadvantages encountered in their manufacture with known methods and apparatus have prevented their production on a large commercial scale. Such confectionery products were made with manual molding methods and refrigerating the materials in anordinary ice cream plant hardening room, or were formed by a molding operation in which a plurality of hollow centers or openings in said shells were subsequently filled with another kind of substance or with chopped fruits, nuts and the like. These methods, and the apparatus used in con- Junction therewith, were very laborious, expensive and unsanitary. The present invention provides apparatus which overcomes the disadvantages of the former methods and apparatus, and permits the manufacture of such individual composite servings with handle members efficiently, cheaply and sanitarily on large scale production.

An object of the present invention is the provision of simple and efilcient apparatus, which is highly sanitary and of an inexpensive construction, for simultaneously carrying out the manufacture of a plurality of multi-flavored orv composite servings in an economic and efllcient manner in accordance with the method described and claimed in my present application Serial No.

' 16,810, filed April 17, 1938.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a holder by which a plurality of handle stick servings may be manipulated in the manufacture of multi-fiavored or composite servings, and by which apparatus the handles may be left in the finished servings at the end of the process of manufacture.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and efficient device for removingthe excess material from a mold structure containing a plurality of multi-fiavored or composite servings after the center portions thereof have been firmly bonded to the handle members locked in the holder and submerged into the coating material in the molds.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention reside in the detailed construction of the apparatus, which result in simplicity, economy and efficiency, and which will be apparent from the following description, wherein a preferred form of embodiment of the invention is shown, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part hereof, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a holder or peg structure, wherein the pegs are removable wooden handle members adapted to become a part of the completed composite servings;

Fig. 2. is an enlarged, detailed, perspective view of one of the bars of the peg structure shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the manner in which the pegs are removably fastened therein;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view, partially in elevation, showing the peg structure of Fig. 1 positioned within its mold structure, and also illustrates the manner in which the excess material is removed by the squeegee from the mold D Fig. 4 is an end view, partially in section, of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the composite unitary serving made with the apparatus of my invention, wherein it is provided with a handle member to facilitate eating.

Referring now tothe drawing, the peg structure 86 consists of two spaced parallel bars 81 mounted between end plates '88, the upper ends of which are bent outwardly to provide handles 89 for facilitating manipulation of the structure. The bars 81 of the peg structure 86 are provided with a plurality of spaced vertically extending openings 9|, which are adapted to receive remov able pegs in the form of wooden handle sticks 92. The pegs 92 of the bars 81 are staggered to correspond to the spacing of the mold cavities 41 of the mold structure 4|. The pegs 92 are securely fastened in the openings 9| of the bars 81 by movable or slidable bars 93, which are slidably mounted on the tops of the bars 81 by screw bolts 94 operating in longitudinal slots 96. The bars 93 are moved with respect to the bars 81 manually by means of a handle 91 mounted adjacent one end thereof. The bars 93 are provided with a plurality of longitudinal slots 98 having an enlarged portion 99 and a narrow tapering portion llll, the enlarged portion 99 of the slots 98 coinciding with the openings 9| of the bars 81 when the handle 91 is moved to the extreme left, which is its filling and releasing position. When merely dipping them in the handle 91 is moved as far as it will go to the right of the peg structure 86, the narrow tapering portion IM is moved to coincide with the openings 9! of the bars 81, thereby engaging the handle members 92, which have been positioned in said openings 9!, and firmly binding them between the bars Bl and the bars 93 by a wedging operation. The pegs 92 may be released from the peg structure 86 by merely moving the handle 97 to the left, which moves the bars 93 a corresponding distance to the left and brings the enlarged portion 99 of the slots 98 over the openings 9i of the bars 8! and at the same time forces the pegs 92 out of the narrow slots lfll. The enlarged portion 99 of the slots 99 is too large to engage the pegs 92, and the weight of the serving H19, which is bonded to the lower end thereof, causes the peg 92 to drop out of the peg structure 86. The pegs 92, which are firmly bonded to the servings I06, remain therein and form han- -dles by which they may be manipulated while being eaten.

Since the complete method of making the serving 109 is identical to the method described for making the serving 60 in my co-pending parent application Serial No. 16,810, it is believed unnecessary and inadvisable to repeat the entire process herein.

Although I have not described the making of a chocolate coated or other coated confection, it is obvious that the servings I04 may be coated by a bath of molten chocolate or other coating material (not shown) while they are held in the peg structure 86.

.- Although I have only described in detail one modification which my invention may assume, it

will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited, but that various other modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit thereof or from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus of the character described which comprises a main frame structure consisting of a plurality of transversely spaced longitudinally extending main bar members 'free of intermediate transverse supports, said main bar members having a plurality of longitudinally spaced vertical openings .therethrough for receiving handle members, each of said main bar members having a top bar member mounted thereon provided with a series of correspondingly spaced vertical openings therethrough adapted to be registered with the openings of its main bar member, said main bar transverse supports, said main bar members having a plurality of longitudinally spaced vertical openings therethrough for receiving handle members, each of said main bar members having a shorter top bar member slidably mounted thereon provided with a series of correspondingly spaced vertical openings therethrough adapted to be registered with the openings of its main bar member, said shorter top bar member being connected transversely adjacent one end for providing means for simultaneously moving all of them longitudinally of their respective main bar members whereby the handle members positioned within said aligned openings of said bar members are simultaneously secured therein by wedging therebetween.

3. Apparatus of the character described which comprises a main frame structure consisting of a plurality of transversely spaced longitudinally extending main bar members free of intermediate transversely extending supports, said main bar members having a plurality of longitudinally spaced vertical openings therethrough of a size and shape adapted to correspond to the size and shape of the handle member to be positioned therein, each of said main bar members having a shorter top bar member slidably movable longitudinally thereof provided with a series of correspondingly spaced vertical openings therethrough which are elongated longitudinally thereof for permitting movement of the top bar member relative to thehandle member projecting from the opening in the main bar member, said shorter top bar members being connected transversely adjacent one end for providing means for simultaneously moving all of them longitudinally of their respective main bar members and the handle members projecting therefrom whereby the latter may be wedgingly locked between the two bar members.

NORMAN M. THOMAS. 

